Graham Attwell works for Pontydysgu, a research and development organisation based in wales. His research interests include the use and appropriation of Web 2.0 and social software for learning and for knowledge development and sharing. He has written extensively on PLEs and is currently involved in the development of a mobile PLE through the EU funded Mature-ip project.

Stephen Downes works for the National Research Council of Canada where he has served as a Senior Research, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, since 2001. Affiliated with the Learning and Collaborative Technologies Group, Institute for Information Technology, Downes specializes in the fields of online learning, new media, pedagogy and philosophy and is the PLE Project Leader.

Downes is perhaps best known for his daily newsletter, OLDaily, which is distributed by web, email and RSS to thousands of subscribers around the world. He has published numerous articles both online and in print, including The Future of Online Learning (1998), Learning Objects (2000), Resource Profiles (2003), and E-Learning 2.0 (2005). He is a popular speaker, appearing at hundreds of events around the world over the last fifteen years.

She has local, regional and national level experience promoting and developing the effective and innovative use of ICT and e-learning design, delivery and policy. Working across a broad rage of projects, she is primarily interested in digital literacy, and the ways in which web 2.0 and social media can be employed to support community engagement.

Josie is active in online community research and development, serves on several national and international advisory boards, and manages the Edublog Awards (the annual international awards programme for educators who use weblogs and social media). In September 2008 the Association for Learning Technology awarded her the title Individual Learning Technologist of the Year “for ground-breaking work in the learning technology domain”.

She frequently works with the charity Childnet International, delivering national schools guidance Safe To Learn: Cyberbullying and Cyberbullying: Supporting School Staff for the UK Government. She worked as Lead Community Architect on JISC's cutting-edge Emerge project, and currently supports JISC's Institutional Innovation Programme.

Lucy is employed by the Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Chicago as an education technology specialist. In her current role, she advises curriculum developers, researchers, and direct service providers on the most current developments in educational technology and on applications of this technology for all facets of the Center's work. She also provides technology-focused professional development and coaching to teachers and schools in support of their implementation of Everyday Mathematics and Science Companion curriculum materials. In recent years, she has been appointed an Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Teacher.

Dr Mark van Harmlen is the Director of Hedtek Ltd, where he leads the JISC-funded Manchester PLE development. Mark specialises in Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 system design, particularly from user needs perspective and the application of interactive technology to fulfill those needs. He is closely concerned with technology to enable peer-assisted learning in formal and informal learning contexts. In the past Mark has worked as a consultant, as a Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Manchester (where he currently holds an honorary research position), as a Senior Researcher at National/Panasonic’s former Tokyo Research Centre, and at a senior level in South African Government.

Rita Kop is a Research Council Officer working on the NRC PLE project.Before she joined she was an assistant professor in Adult Continuing Education at Swansea University in the UK after a career as teacher and head-teacher in Dutch primary education. Rita has a Certificate in Primary Education and a Master of Education Degree (Lifelong Learning). Her PhD thesis will be submitted this year and is on learning in a personalized networked learning environment. She has a wide experience of managing, developing and researching semi-autonomous learning systems and has written extensively about widening access to Higher Education and e-learning. Her research interests are personalized learning, distance education and learning through online networks, the impact of technology on the concept of knowledge, learning and teaching, widening access to adult education, and institutional change.

Sharon Peters is the director of technology at Hebrew Academy. In ’08 and '09, she led teams who facilitated professional dev. workshops with Teachers Without Borders Canada to educators in South Africa and rural Kenya. Her students have participated in award-winning collaborative projects with other classes around the world.

George Siemens, is an Associate Director with the Learning Technologies Centre at University of Manitoba and author of Knowing Knowledge, an exploration of how the context and characteristics of knowledge have changed, and what it means to organizations today. George is also Founder and President of Complexive Systems Inc., a learning lab focused on assisting organizations develop integrated learning structures to meet the needs of global strategy execution. http://www.elearnspace.org

John Thole is the Director of an NGO called Edunova in Cape Town, South Africa. Edunova works primarily in townships schools to assist educators and school leaders to become aware of the global trends in learning tech as well as to develop skills resulting in the use of tech.

Sue Waters is well known globally for supporting educators in their own professional use of the web and mobile technologies as well as with their students. She is renowned for her practical "how-to's" help information on her sites including The Edublogger, her personal blog and her PLN Yourself wiki.

Steve Wheeler is Senior Lecturer in Education and Information Technology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Plymouth in South West England. He is technology mediated learning co-ordinator for the Faculty and also convenes the University wide e-learning research network. Steve is co-editor of the journal Interactive Learning Environments, and serves on the boards of a number of other peer-reviewed journals including ALT-J and IRRODL. He has an interest in e-learning, distance education, Web 2.0 tools, 3D MUVEs and creativity.

Scott Wilson is Assistant Director of CETIS, the JISC's innovation support centre for interoperability and standards in the UK higher and further education sectors. Currently Scott is a committer on the Apache Wookie project, a contributor to W3C, the Open Web Foundation, CEN and other standards organisations. Prior to working in CETIS, Scott worked in the commercial software sector, in areas such as CRM, Business Intelligence, and Criminal Intelligence.